Pamela De Graff (WitchfulThinking)

The Cremator

The Cremator (Czechoslovakian 1969)
Written by Ladislav Fuks based on his novel.
Directed by Juraj Herz.
Production Designer: Zbynek Hloch
Cinematography by Stanislav Milota.
Original Music by Zdenek Liska.
With Rudolf Hrusínský, Ilja Prachar, Milos Vognic, and Zora Bozinová

In this mesmerizing, Gothic horror film, a funerary specialist becomes obsessed with what he believes to be the nobility of his calling with terrifyingly tragic and bizarre results.

In late 1930?s Prague, Kopfrking (Hrusínský) is a misguided, enigmatic crematorium operator. He is an impeccably groomed, eerie, enigmatic and meticulous figure and always talks in a hypnotic, soft spoken, poetic manner. He is overly preoccupied with mortality, morbidity, the human soul, and deeply devoted to the funerary arts.

Kopfrking feels a physical affection for the instrumentality of his trade, lovingly caressing the equipment of the crematory process. He speaks constantly, literally and metaphorically of death and the liberation of the soul through the process of cremation.

As the story progresses, he becomes increasingly obsessed with his work, finding it glorifying and cathartic. He sees visions of the ghost of his living wife in her youth, along with his future incarnation as he begins a spiraling descent into fantasy and madness. He is on a mission to free the souls of the deceased (and in time the not so deceased) through the pyrolization of human flesh, be it living or dead -just as long as that flesh is consumed and vaporized by fire.

The influence of the pre-WWII German political machine is enveloping Eastern Europe, polarizing aspiring Nazis and oppositionists. Drawn toward the philosophy of the Third Reich, Kopfrking becomes morbidly obsessed with racial purity and the percentage of German blood flowing within his own veins -literally to the point of having his vessels opened and the contents examined. While The Cremator is not a raving anti-Nazi film, it uses the political ideology as an allegory for exploring the phenomenon of sweeping, consuming mass delusion and insanity.

The gathering of Nazi forces on the border offers Kopfrking an opportunity to realize his misguided aspirations on a grand scale, one much larger than he could have ever hoped for, one seemingly without limit. Before he can apply his fervor and passion to the task, he hatches a plan to betray and destroy his own acquaintances, colleagues and family.

While there are elements of black satire in the The Cremator, the movie is so compelling as to nearly overshadow it. The film insidiously and steadily flows to its inevitable and horrifying conclusion like a hot rivulet of liquefied fat.

The production design is crisp and symmetrical. Stanislav Milota?s stunning black and white cinematography is haunting and beautiful. It features successions of extreme closeups that emphasize slightly grotesque and disturbing features of the biological condition. Milota?s use of black and white film stock?s enhanced tonal range is artfully employed to focus attention on rich textures and multitudes of shades. This gives The Cremator a uniquely unsettling dreamlike quality. The musical score by Zdenek Liska is alluring, phantasmic, and aesthetically intriguing. Viewing The Cremator is akin to experiencing a nightmare that one is reluctant to wake from.

As a side note, Rudolf Hrusínský's grandson is now in the film industry in is also an actor in the Czech Republic.. Writer Ladislav Fuks allegedly fled the country to escape Communism. His publications have apparently been banned there for many years. The Cremator was a Czech nominee for the Best Foreign Film Oscar.

"Released in 1969 as a smart arthouse spine-tingler, The Cremator is being pitched today as a sui generic horror show." -Gary Dretzka, Movie City News

The Cremator was released on Dark Sky DVD, March 31, 2009.

Here is an appropriate film for Halloween:

The Other

The Other (1972)
Written by Tom Tyromn based on his novel.
Directed by Robert Mulligan.
With Chris and Martin Udvarnoky, Uta Haen and John Ritter.
Production Designer: Albert Brenner
Cinematography by Robert Surtees

Some horror cinema doesn't have to rely on the supernatural to be horrifying. Set in the 1930's, The Other is a grim shocker about two cute, apparently wholesome twin boys who would seem to lead an idyllic existence on a picturesque family farm. There's just one problem -everyone around them begins to have gruesome accidents.

The boys are drawn into a convoluted good-versus-evil struggle that churns within themselves, and they struggle with each other to both exercise and exorcise it. As this conflict manifests itself, the bizarre circumstances surrounding the misfortune of family and neighbors begin to weave an increasingly twisted and captivating mystery.

The story includes many odd and unsettling elements, such as the fact that the twins' mother is inexplicably a terrified psychological invalid. Their Russian nanny seems to be able to teach the boys how to fly via astral projection. There is a very odd, cursed family crest ring complete with the severed finger of the corpse from which it was stolen. People and things connected to the twins seem to end up broken, on fire, paralyzed or dead.

The ring and finger are coveted and revered by the boys. They carry it with them constantly in their treasure box, and this morbid memento is somehow the key to all of the strange tragedy that unfolds. Surrealism is created by the uncertainty of who is who, and what is what. The Other is a thoughtfully presented nightmare of indulgence, madness and grotesque murder. The production is enhanced by Robert Surtees' striking and graceful cinematography, with a memorably haunting score by Jerry Goldsmith.

Horror and occult fans should take particular delight in viewing The Other for the following reasons. It has an original story that has not been perpetually copied since it was filmed. This work was shot in 1972 when there were fewer creative constraints on writer-director collaboration. The Other is conventionally well constructed, but neither formulaic, nor forced to be "accessible" to the public. There are none of the standard cliches. It withstands the test of time and is not dated. Set during the Great Depression, it looks like it could have been produced yesterday. The treatment of the subject matter, however, is refreshingly unconventional. Those looking for something fresh and unlike anything they have seen before should be especially pleased -that is, if one can locate a copy.

The Other - trailer

Surreal, brooding, psychological horror.